paddling in wind

[TWsup]

interested in tips for paddling in side on headwinds. I struggle to keep bow pointed up and get pushed off wind. place I paddle has lots of this and chop. on a 12-6 Bark Competitor, 80 kgs and not particularly strong.

has anyone tried putting up a very small wind vane/sail on deck at tail and using it as a way to balance heading ? thinking like .05m2 size triangle on a 30cm mast that can be adjusted somehow.

[headmount]

Hitting myself with a hammer sounds like more fun.  Guess it depends on the strength of wind but around here, that's called masochism.  

[TWsup]

yea, well. full time+ job, 7 year old, wife, dog, 2 houses. get an hour to be on water...kitesurf, or SUS or SUP. I'll do down wind if I can, but that requires a pickup I don't always have. I'm only person around doing this up here.

I'm talking about pretty light winds. say up to 7 knots. over that and i will SUS or kitesurf or downwind.

[pdxmike]

I'd like to know any secrets, too.  Paddling straight into wind is easier for me than wind from the side or an angle.  Keeping the rail that's opposite the wind weighted a bit may help, so water isn't crashing directly against the side rail facing the wind.  If it's really strong, sometimes I paddle more directly into the wind to get a break from paddling mostly on one side, then turn and get blown back on course.

[upwinder]

Paddling in wind is a fact of life where I live. Couple of suggestions:

Step forward as far as you can to stick the nose in and reduce windage a bit

Short quick paddle strokes will help keep the board driving forward

Fin...what fin are you running in your Bark? A bigger keel fin with some rake like a Larry Allison Gladiator might help. Personally I've had success with adding one of Larry's ventral fins to a couple of my boards they help a lot with pointing upwind and tracking across wind.

[upwinder]

Paddling in wind is a fact of life where I live. Couple of suggestions:

Step forward as far as you can to stick the nose in and reduce windage a bit

Short quick paddle strokes will help keep the board driving forward

Fin...what fin are you running in your Bark? A bigger keel fin with some rake like a Larry Allison Gladiator might help. Personally I've had success with adding one of Larry's ventral fins to a couple of my boards they help a lot with pointing upwind and tracking across wind.

[upwinder]

OOps..double post. Better switch to decaf  

[Waves4supper]

I don't know if this will work, but sounds theoretically plausible to me.

Could you try and stand further forward on your board next time?

My theory:
If you bear off-wind, it basically means that the center of your sail area (your body basically) is placed further forward than the center of your drifting area (the submerged area of your board projected on a plane perpendicular to the wind). It's because the vector of the wind force and the vector of the drifting force (force of water on your board) are not ligned up, that your board is turning.

By moving forward a bit, you will shift the sail area forward but also the center of drift (and this to a greater extent), as your board gets nose-down trim.

Would love to hear if this works!

According to the same theory, you could also try indeed with a sail on the back of the board (this moves the center of sail area towards the aft),  use a smaller fin (moves the center of drift area forward), and/or place the fin further forward.

[SUPpaddler]

You don't want a sail because even if you balance out the board, you'll just get pushed downwind.  Instead, the fin area needs to be rearranged.  If it can't be moved forward, as is likely with the Bark, reduce the rear fin area and add fin area further forward, but not so far forward that it stiffens the bow. 

This is made from a vinyl gutter using tin snips and a heat gun.  Stick a strip of packing tape down the middle and experiment with placement.

[Argosi]

When it's really windy and I'm having difficulty making progress going straight upwind, I'll paddle upwind at an angle and zig zag my way upwind. I find I can paddle upwind at an angle in winds where I can no longer paddle straight upwind.

If you're not getting anywhere doing this, then it's time to kneel down and paddle.

Also make sure you're paddle blade is parallel to the wind during your stroke recovery.

[Henrik F]

interested in tips for paddling in side on headwinds. I struggle to keep bow pointed up and get pushed off wind. place I paddle has lots of this and chop. on a 12-6 Bark Competitor, 80 kgs and not particularly strong.

has anyone tried putting up a very small wind vane/sail on deck at tail and using it as a way to balance heading ? thinking like .05m2 size triangle on a 30cm mast that can be adjusted somehow.

As said in the thread. A Hybrid Gladiator or a Ninja fin from Larry Allison combined with a ventral should be helpful. As soon as I get my new thick boots and gloves I am going to test the newly installed ventral fin in combination with a Hybrid Gladiator and a Ninja Fin. I'll be back

Henrik F

[teamalty]

Paddling my Bark into the wind??? I found that if I use a more bent-over stroke with only body movement keeping my arms straight works well. Why? The proper stroke has me standing too tall, shorter stroke and going nowhere into the wind (15+ mph or more).

 

I Try to think LOW; how low can I get and still stroke? Pull the board to your feet and beyond (I know, poor stroke) keeping a low as you can. When the blade comes out behind your feet, move it quickly forward trying to stay low. All body rotation with feet in athletes position helps, but the change overs are still tough. I try to think as if I'm a clock pendulum: up and back and low.

 

I learned this one day into 25 mph winds: it seemed I was going more back than forward, my gps was saying 1.2 or less, but felt like I was going backwards. I worked on staying low, playing with the stroke (anything and everything) and came up with a way to get back. It worked.

 

Having said this, knowing one can't get much further up on a Bark, and fin size didn't seem to change a thing (tried many), staying low and using what I would call an incorrect stroke seem to work into the wind. And, since more than half my paddles include going against the wind (5-25 mph), it was a way to get back without going to my knees.

[Dangerous Dan]

+1 on Teamalty's post.  I think the most important thing is to get as low as possible.  It's like reefing the sail...less sail, less windage.  I also really work on useing my hips and get the paddle side hip out as forward as possible and really use the hips to rotate while keeping the arms as straight as possible.  Sometime even the "Conner paddle choke up" but I tend to lose the angle of the paddle after feathering on the recovery.

Also, any time zig-zaging helps reocovery side to side and when I'm past 45 degrees from wind head on I will really push up wind and then bare off to just over 90 degrees to use the wave action to spell my arms.  Just like sailing an "S" pattern when getting back upwind on a sail board.

[1tuberider]

If its too windy you can prone paddle.

When its really windy but not enough to call it quits I paddle short forward strokes.  It helps to keep my momentum going but I don't have to go to far as I am looking for my next wave.

[addapost]

+2 with teamalty. I bend over forward, try to keep an upper body profile close to that of a cyclist doing a time trial. I also choke down on the paddle and take short choppy strokes as mentioned. It is tiring but hey it's paddling into the wind.